Why is he black?

[JeffreyCham]

I got myself an 8 month old Veiled Chameleon, male 2 days ago. And i set up a net-cage in my room now i have three questions.
He is still very shy, agressive and stressed, but he turns black anytime i even look at him in the cage and sometimes he is already black. We have the rainy season here in new mexico right now so there is not alot of light outside for at least 3-4h a day, but i set up the dripper for water, spray him 3-4 times a day and he got crickets and worms. Also i try to keep the room a little colder and with a stady breeze by the fan. Is it normal for them to turn black if i approach the cage?
And if it is too dark what kind of light source do you recommend?
And since i got him, 2 days ago i havent seen him eating at all, is that normal?
and how frequently do i clean the cage and the artificial tree in it? can i take regular water to do it?

 

[HerpZilla]

Black chams

Besides what you already know, is their a chance your cham is seeing himself in something in the room?

I remember I had my large female jax cage next to my males cage and they could not see each other in that setup. then something was in the room they saw the male and were all very dark and all to one side of the cage.

Check for mirrors and anything else like that..

Just a thought.

 

[bfisher31]

Veileds need to be around 80-95 degrees, you should probably warm up your room.

 

[Lovereps]

Welcome to the forum!
You are wise to ask questions and learn, so you can help your cham to stay healthy and have a good life with you.
Any cham will need time to adjust to a new home BUT it is extremely important to be sure that everything is exactly the way your new cham needs it to be.
Probably most of us were given some wrong advice on cham care when we first got our chams, so it would be a good idea to carefully look over this caresheet to be sure that everything is the way your cham needs it to be:
https://www.chameleonforums.com/care/caresheets/veiled/
You will notice on the caresheet that the younger chams need temperatures that are a few degrees cooler than older ones need, for example.

This forum is a great place because there are plenty of longtime cham keepers as well as people new to keeping chams.


You can also cut and paste the questions from https://www.chameleonforums.com/how-ask-help-66/ and then add your answers, so others can let you know if anything isn't quite right for your new cham, before it has any ill effect on him.

 

[Sarahcwilson]

Yes, use the link above and this one: https://www.chameleonforums.com/care/chameleons/

 

[JeffreyCham]

Thanks alot guys, i will check everything on the list. He is now showing his bright colors when it became calmer outside after the storm, i think its just a lot of stress on the little guy.